Worlds Apart
by tian.kong
Summary: It took walking in on her husband with another woman for Uchiha Sakura to finally find herself.


Hi everyone! I wanted to take a stab at a Sakura centric story of my own. I hope that you like it. Reviews would be most appreciated – but I should warn you – I write for personal enjoyment and should probably spend more time than … zero minutes … on research and grammar checking So I hope that you are not too, too harsh in your reviews.

And obviously, it helps to receive reviews as it will let me know that I should continue!

* * *

Uchiha Sakura sat deathly still in her sleek black Mercedes Benz, staring blankly ahead. It was pouring rain and lightening periodically illuminated the scenery of asphalt and metal railing. Tears streaked down her face, mascara leaving ugly traces of soot down her ashen porcelain skin.

_How could I have been so, so stupid_?

She repeated it wretchedly in her head over and over again.

_How could I have been so, so stupid? _

_How could I have been so, so stupid?_

She had done everything that she was expected to do. She had given up so much to become the woman her parents wanted. A woman who said the right things, did the right things, even _wore_ the right things. A woman who was perfectly bred to be granted the _honor_ of standing by the side of Uchiha Sasuke – one of the most sought after men in the world. She had given up _everything_ these past two years – her childhood friends, her dreams of becoming a medical doctor, the very core of her being. She had been a doting wife to the richest man in Japan, the epitome of a proper housewife, and an exemplary hostess to all of Tokyo's elite. And this is what she was left to become - a pathetic example of what one-sided love can do to you.

_How could I have been so, so stupid? _

The images played over and over again in her head – like a broken film that repeated the same scenes. Stopping by her husband's office in the heart of the city, she had been greeted with the sight of her _husband _thrusting violently into a woman that she did not recognize. The voluptuous red head was top less, her chest pressed intimately against her husband's bare chest – their lips infused in a passionate kiss. Her legs angled upwards to wrap themselves snugly around his lean waist - his pants unbuttoned but not yet discarded.

Sakura stared wide-eyed, hands shot up to muffle a gasp of shock at the sight before her. But she couldn't look away. She couldn't look away from the sight of her _husband_ and this – this _woman_ who was panting his name and gasping with the tempo of each thrust.

And then their eyes met. The woman caught Sakura's eyes from the door left slightly ajar. Blazing, ecstasy-filled red eyes started boldly into tearful, pain filled green.

And she smirked. Her eyes screamed -

_Yes, Your husband is fucking me. And it's incredible._

Sakura watched shockingly still as the woman leaned her head down, eyes never detaching from Sakura, and buried her husband's head into the crook of her neck.

She had bolted – unable to watch any further - and never, ever turned back. She had blindly sprinted back to her car – it was dark outside – well past nine and she drove. She drove for miles before she pulled over onto the side of the highway not knowing what to do.

_How could I have been so, so stupid?_ _Where did I go wrong_?

But Sakura knew where she went wrong.

She had given herself, _changed_ herself, to be the perfect Uchiha wife for a man that she fell in love with at first sight.

But he had never loved her - had never cared for her. He had made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that their marriage was a business arrangement only – one that suited both of their families. Yet she had desperately held onto the hope that Sasuke would grow to feel _something_ for her.

_Oh god…what do I do? _

_What do I do – what do I do – what do I do?_

Her hands trembled.

They shook hazardously as she brought them up before her. Her wedding band glistened brightly against the darkness. And she thought about how much of dark place she was in her life.

She hated it. She hated it so damn much. She was _not _this person. _She was not this person_! Furiously wrenching the ring from her hand, she threw it violently out the open window.

She was better than this.

She was better than this.

She needed to disappear.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke stood up straight, tightening the knot of his tie while emotionlessly watching Watanabe Karin slip on the last of her heels. She was beautiful, he consented to that, but she had a cold, calculating heart like he. Perhaps that was why he had allowed their dalliances to occur for as long as they had. She was as ruthless as he was in life. And, admittedly, the sex was good.

"I'll see you next week, Sasuke-kun." Karin sauntered up to him, reaching for his suit jacket and pressed a hot kiss onto his unresponsive lips.

Pressing herself fully against him, Karin ensured that he could feel her entire front.

"Maybe my place next time? I haven't gotten to show you the new Jacuzzi I have." Her hand slipped to rub the junction between his legs, "Remember the last time?"

She whispered wickedly in his ear. "You gripped my head so hard when you came, I almost had trouble sucking you dry…"

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously. Yes he remembered. He remembered her tongue on him and the way her hand expertly pumped him, watching her head bop up and down, taking the length of him further and further down her throat. But he had never been one to dwell on the past.

"Hn." He moved past her and grabbed his briefcase from the side desk.

Pushing the door to his office fully open, he was thankful that it was the cleaning services night off, otherwise he would have had unwanted attention cast upon his private life.

"It's time you leave."

Watching as Karin's smile dropped, he fought to keep his agitation at bay as she angrily shrugged on her Burberry raincoat, effectively concealing her torn blouse.

"Well?" She remarked sarcastically. "Another fuck-and-go, Sasuke? You and I both know that we'll do this again. Why not put it on our calendars next weekend so that we both can have _something_ to look forward to?"

"I have plans." He gestured her to move through the door and let a slight level of annoyance so once he realized that she was not budging.

Karin bristled in jealousy. "What?" She spat, lips curling in disgust. "Spending time with _your wife_?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. Reaching forward, he ignored Karin's attempts to back away, grabbed her roughly by the elbow and began to drag her out the door. "What did I tell you?"

As she was being pushed out the doorway, she found herself pressed against the doorway and fought not to reveal her trembling at being confronted with the iciness in his eyes,

"You will not mention a word of this to anyone. You will stay away from my family and that includes my wife. _Do you understand_?"

Jealousy gnawed at Karin's very core – it ate away at her.

She hated her.

She _hated_ Uchiha Sakura with all of her being.

The woman was perfect. She was everything Karin wanted to be and more - namely, Uchiha Sasuke's _wife_. She knew it was wrong, she knew it could ruin everything – that Sasuke would cut off all ties with her - but she couldn't help it. She couldn't let Sasuke continue on with defending what he thought he still had and throwing her aside.

_Always¸_she cursed,_ always throwing me aside!_

"She won't be there." Karin sneered, "She won't be home when you get there."

Enjoying the way the immovable man before her stilled questioningly at her words, she continued on, "Your self respecting, _perfect_ wife isn't going to be home. Especially not after she's seen her husband shamelessly fuck a woman on his office desk."

* * *

Yamanaka Ino swung open the door to the apartment her fiancé and she shared in the Osaki district. Her frustration at being woken up in the middle of the night quickly dissipated after catching a glimpse of her visitor through the peephole of the door.

She took in the sight of her long lost friend remorsefully. Sakura - dress sopping wet from the rain churning outdoors, dull pink hair splotched against her not-so-wide forehead, and uncertainty showing deep, deep underneath green-hued eyes – stood with arms dangling at her side uncertainly.

Ino _knew_ it. She just _knew_ that the Uchihas would be the worst thing that would ever happen to her friend.

"I'm leaving him." Sakura whispered determinedly. Pure conviction was laced in her voice.

"Oh Forehead…."

She reached forward and fought the tears springing to her eyes. Swallowing thickly at the trembling girl in her arms,

"You are. And you're going to be just fine."

_I promise._

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke drove his midnight Porsche hazardously through the city streets of Tokyo, slimly weaving from lane to lane, and ignoring the honks of cars surrounding him. His expression was grim and his lips thinned as he thought of the untouched belongings of his wife at their penthouse flat. She had not come home but she had also not collected her things. He did not bother in discerning the meaning behind what Sakura did or did not do. She had yet to pick up her phone.

Knocking impatiently on the door of his destination, he was greeted with a pissed off, disheveled dead-last of a best friend.

"The _fuck_ Sasuke," Uzumaki Naruto griped, "do you know what time it is – hey!"

Sasuke pushed Naruto aside and rudely made his way throughout Naruto's flat, his eyes scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

Living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

Nothing.

She wasn't there.

He whirled angrily and pinned a deadly look onto the sole occupant of the room. Naruto paused mid-step and threw his hands quickly into a gesture of surrender,

"The hell Sasuke! Who pissed _you_ off this time?" He attempted to alleviate the tension in the room and threw on a lopsided grin, "Dude, what? Sakura kicked you out or some – _oompf!_"

Sasuke held long time friend and business partner against the wall by the front of his shirt. Naruto stared into his eyes and understood that it was not the time to act like his usual self.

"Find her."

* * *

Sakura shifted nervously in the plush leather chair underneath her. She absently tucked a loose strand of candy pink hair behind her right ear and righted the knee length skirt distractedly. Ino had insisted on piling armloads of clothing into Sakura's possession, rambling about how she needed to do some "spring cleaning."

She didn't mind the clothes. They brought her back to her college years, when she wore clothing that she was comfortable in, felt _good_ in … until she traded them in for pristine and proper blouses and two piece suits.

_I highly doubt that typical people throw out an entire wardrobe of luxury brand clothes during "spring cleaning,"_ she thought with a snort.

But no, Ino wasn't a typical person. They had talked throughout the night about … everything. They reminisced about their old days in elementary through high school, about their fallout after Sakura had announced she would be marrying Uchiha Sasuke, and most importantly, about what Sakura was going to do with herself.

Ino had forgiven her immediately and became instantly focused on fixing Sakura's situation rather than dwelling on the past.

And that was how Sakura found herself in front of one intimidating Sabaku Gaara.

_Lawyer extraordinaire_ as Ino had referenced.

Sabaku-san was handsome in his own right. Dressed impeccably in a black, no nonsense suit, his face remained impassive as he waited for her to start. He sat across from her, behind a sleek glass and iron desk.

She thought of how different it was from Sasuke's desk. Her blood boiled and fire renewed, her previous nervousness disappeared.

"I am here to ask for your assistance," she stated, proud of the steadiness of her voice.

Gaara took a moment to continue his perusal of the beautiful woman before him. Her petite yet gifted frame snugly wrapped in a jade dress that brought out the emerald of her eyes and contrasted strikingly with her rose colored hair. She was femininity wrapped in a package. And Gaara was not one to _not_ appreciate that. But the woman before him was _not_ the woman who he had seen at various functions amongst Tokyo's elite – no, certainly not. The Uchiha Sakura he knew was … _homely_ at her best. But this woman, the woman in front of him, did not remind him of the dowdy wife of Uchiha Sasuke.

"I'm sure that you are aware that the Uchiha Corporation has a slew of personal attorneys, Uchiha-san." Gaara leaned back, eyes never wavering from the curious woman before him.

"You are right, Sabaku-san." Sakura took in a deep breath, "But please call me by my maiden name."

Missing the interest in his dark eyes peak, she continued, "I'd like to file for a divorce."

"Oh?"

"Yes – as quick as possible." She shifted again under the man's scrutinizing gaze, "I-I don't have quite the retainer your law firm typically requests…"

Gaara's raised a high eyebrow.

She stammered, "Now. I don't have it now. But I will agree to pay your office in increments, until the full retainer is paid in full. I will agree in writing – in writing, of course."

Her eyes pleaded with him silently. She needed to help, but she only had a nominal amount of money in her personal account. She had long forgotten about her personal savings once Sasuke and she had married – and certainly had not needed to think about money under the Uchiha name. But she'd be damned before she used anything of Sasuke's ever again.

She took a series of silent deep breaths as Gaara stared, internally deliberating.

"Alright," Gaara drawled, enjoying the relief that illuminated Sakura Uch – Sakura Haruno's features.

"But let me ask you something, Haruno-san."

"Call me Sakura," she eagerly interrupted. Her eyes renewed with hope.

Gaara thoughtfully leaned back into his chair and Sakura wondered if he knew just how authoritative he looked in that chair – with the entire Asakusa district as his backdrop and stoic in his posture. "Just what are you looking to receive as a settlement?"

Sakura blinked in confusion? _Settlement_? _Like, money?_ She thought distractedly and rushed to correct Sabaku-san's judgment.

"I apologize if I have misled you Sabaku-san," she answered slowly, choosing her words carefully to avoid any further confusion. "What I am looking to receive," her eyes hard and determined, "is a quick divorce. I simply want to cut all ties with Uchiha Sasuke and move forward. I want nothing of monetary value."

Gaara hid his surprise – and admiration –

"Very well."

* * *

Review please! They're like candy.


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